Review: The Red Palace by June Hur

The Red Palace by June Hur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a super quick read that kept me engaged and intrigued to find out the answers about what happened. I normally wouldn't have picked this up on my own but it is an IA award winner so I read it for work. 

Hyeon has always felt the lack of love from her parents, being shunned from her father and feeling the disappointed from her mother for not being a boy. Gender means everything in her culture and as a girl in a lower class, she had no higher power. But that didn't stop her from becoming a palace nurse and proving she can achieve her goals with enough work and concentration. 

But when her mentor and, frankly, the woman she has grown to love like her true mother, gets framed for a Massacre, Hyeon makes it her mission to find the proof needed to free her from execution. After pairing up with Inspector Eojin, they are both risking everything to figure out what really happened that night. Even if it means going against the royal family.

I love how these two go through their suspects and find clues to do a process of elimination. I couldn't imagine living in a society where my gender has a lack of power, but i know that was how the world was, and sometimes is today in certain countries. I love how determined and thorough Hyeon was during this time to figure out what really happened. She was definitely the brains of the operation, that's for sure. 

I like that this is a standalone and how the story ended. Though finding out more about Hyeon and Eojin's future would have been nice! 

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